Day 25

More Judges today. I read chapters 20 and 21 and I listened to a sermon on chapters 19-21. Conversations with Tommy and the sermon have pointed out some very interesting connections and fueled some more study. I will attempt to sort out my thoughts as I go here and I hope they make sense. Perhaps by the end I will have come to some conclusion but perhaps not.

Depravity and justice. These are two themes that are very present in Judges 19-21. It also points to another very similar situation in Genesis (chapter 19 of all places) where the men of Sodom and Gomorrah come after the angels who are staying with Lot. This is an example of a city that was so evil God literally wiped it off the face of the earth. Depravity not only in the men of Sodom but also in Lot. He offered his virgin daughters to these men. They were spared by the grace of God but still were offered. Here is where this hits home for me both in Judges and in Genesis: I am depraved also. There is no one who is righteous. The concubine is easily seen as a victim and we all feel sorry for her, however she had left her husband to be a harlot in her fathers home. This is not a righteous woman. I am not upholding the sin of these men or of her Levite husband but the fact remains that her sins against God earn her His eternal wrath. Who am I to despise God's right justice? This has been for me a reorienting to God's way of seeing man, He sees man as totally depraved...there is no good in them and even more difficult His right and ability to execute justice on them however and whenever He sees fit. WOW! That is a hard pill for me to swallow.


I squirm in my seat even as I write this.

How to get to Grace from here. Please try and follow with me. This is the part where analogia fidei comes into play. This is that since the Bible has one author, God, then Scripture should be read in light of other Scripture, not in a isolation. Judges is not meant to be taken alone, without the rest of the Word otherwise we would be left without hope, without grace. In the grand scheme of God's plan these remind us of the need for redemption but in a more specific correlation take notice of those who lived in Gibeah. The men who wanted to rape the Levite and ultimately rapped and abused his concubine were from the tribe of Benjamin. In the next few chapters these Benjaminites were almost completely wiped out because there women and children were killed. Only 600 men remained (wait, there is grace right there) and they found wives by kidnapping women from nearby towns. Still need more grace? 10 tribes of Israel are later virtually obliterated but 2 are sent into exile in Babylon: Judah and Benjamin. Decades later they return and after time we have the birth of Jesus and Grace is given to the world. As if that is not enough grace there came a man who was chosen to be God's herald of grace versus works. He was transformed by the AMAZING power of Christ's sacrifice and empowered by the Holy Spirit to write much of the New Testament, explaining and exulting over GRACE. That's right, Paul and guess what he says in Philippians 3:3-5 "...put no confidence in the flesh— though I myself have reason for confidence in the flesh also. If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;"  INCREDIBLE! That is not an accident or a coincidence, there is no such thing!

Conclusion? My view is so small, myopic and limited and God's view is infinite, with His glory and grace always in play. He is purposeful and deep and wise in all He does. It is also so critical to read Scripture as a part of the whole and the whole is the BIBLE not just the specific book. I need to also remember that when one characteristic of God seems to overwhelm a situation it does not preclude His other characteristics (ie when judgment is overwhelming it does not take away from His goodness) Whew! That was intense.